Unveiled: Rare Early Princess Peach Design Emerges From Nintendo History

A Rare Look at Princess Peach’s Early Design From Nintendo’s Archives For more than four decades, Princess Peach and Mario have stood as Nintendo’s most iconic duo.

Since her introduction in Super Mario Bros., Peach has been a central character throughout the Nintendo universe—appearing across mainline titles, spin-offs, and adaptations on the Nintendo Switch, eShop, and beyond.

Throughout these years, the character design for Princess Peach has remained largely consistent, immediately recognizable to fans of all generations.

Yet, a recent discovery reveals that Peach’s look could have been strikingly different during Nintendo’s formative years. On April 13, 2022, veteran manga artist and former Nintendo collaborator Gaku Miyao, known by the Twitter handle @GAKUJIRA, shared a fascinating piece of video game history.

Miyao revealed an image depicting a pair of girls’ shoes adorned with early illustrations of popular Super Mario characters.

While Mario, Toad, and Bowser appear in familiar forms, Princess Peach sports a distinctly anime-inspired look—quite different from her classic, recognizable design. In his social media post, Miyao explained that when these shoes were created, Nintendo had yet to finalize the official design for Princess Peach.

He noted that his commission targeted a young female audience before Peach’s enduring appearance took shape.

The message reflected on how, after these initial designs, Nintendo solidified Peach’s now-iconic look, which has since become emblematic of the brand.

Miyao also mentioned a touch of nostalgia and wistfulness, recalling that one person was saddened when the prototype design was replaced by Peach’s definitive image in Nintendo’s lineup. The resurfacing of this rare artwork has garnered significant attention from Nintendo historians and Super Mario fans, offering a glimpse into the creative process and evolution of one of gaming’s most beloved heroines.

These early illustrations underscore Nintendo’s careful approach to character development, even in the brand’s earliest merchandising efforts, long before the Nintendo Switch or global Nintendo Direct presentations became industry standards. Since her debut alongside Mario, Princess Peach has gone on to star in over 60 games, including recent hits like Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which together have sold tens of millions of copies on the Nintendo Switch.

Her visual identity continues to be refined, but this newly uncovered artwork is a powerful reminder of the many unseen steps that shaped her legacy. As the Nintendo community celebrates the legacy of Super Mario and the enduring partnership of Mario and Peach, discoveries such as this remind us that the story behind our favorite characters is always evolving.

With artifacts like Miyao’s early illustration surfacing, fans and historians alike are hopeful for more unreleased Nintendo artwork to emerge, deepening our understanding of the creative journey behind gaming’s timeless icons.

Peach Nintendo Rare Princess Peach